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StewMac kit instructions say to soak Rosewood sides for 30 minutes before putting on the bending iron. Is this beneficial ? Any pros and/or cons for doing this. Thanks.

In the first guitar building class I took years ago, the instructor had us bend rosewood sides by first soaking them in a tank containing hot water for about 30 minutes. We then clamped them onto a form with no heat blanket and left them overnight. It worked with no ill effects.

So maybe soaking the sides would make them easier to bend on a bending iron. When I bend Indian rosewood sides on a bending iron, I just spritz the section of the side I'm bending with water from a spray bottle and that works fine.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Thanks. My first acoustic build. I did bend a piece of scrap oak for practice by just spraying where I was bending. Got it to bend fairly well. Just getting ready to take the plunge.

If your Rosewood sides are 1/4 sawn.
there is NO need to soak them.
They have allot of LIQUID IN THEM -they bend better then most woods.
natural oils, resins .
But thickness is important.
2-2.5mm is good for quarter sawn sides.

mike

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Mike Collins

Thank you for your input Mike. Actually, I'm not sure if they are quarter sawn. Got them from LMII. Anyway, I don't think I will soak them. Just spray as I go.

wood from Lmii is always well cut & reliable.
Mike

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Mike Collins

Oak is one of the easiest woods to bend, but IRW is not much more difficult.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon